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It all started when Wooje took care of a sick Hyeonjun.
Nearly half of the T1 staff got food poisoning after a celebratory dinner. The good news was that not all of them ate the un-fresh seafood, but the bad news was that Hyeonjun and Minseok were among them. They all went to the doctors after two people showed symptoms of food poisoning earlier, so now they were staying in the dorms in case things went south.
Hyeonjun was lying in bed with his eyes closed, stomach churning, and cold sweat all over his body from the nausea. Minhyung had insisted on Minseok sleeping in his room so that he could take care of him, so Hyeonjun was alone in their dorm room. He wanted to rest, but it was very hard to do so when his body felt feverish and uncomfortable, like he was about to vomit any second. He had set up a small bucket next to his bed, in case he did vomit later. Hyeonjun brought his arm over to cover his eyes, hoping sleepiness would find him. Nothing had worked; he tried everything, tried counting sheep, finding a peaceful place in his mind, and all that, but it had only resulted in him getting dizzy and frustrated. Then there was a knock on his door, after which he heard the door creak and felt a presence next to his bed.
“Hi hyung, are you feeling any better?”
It was Wooje, whispering in a careful voice. Hyeonjun lifted his arms away from his face to look at Wooje. There was worry and pity on his face. Hyeonjun only hummed in response, and then the younger put his hands on Hyeonjun’s forehead.
Wooje dashed to the door and said, “I’ll be right back.”
Not even two minutes later, he came back with a wet towel in one hand and a glass of water in his other. He helped Hyeonjun drink a glass of water while softly scolding him for not having water by his side, something about dehydration is a serious thing when you’re food poisoned. The wet towel was gently laid on Hyeonjun’s forehead, who let out a satisfied sigh when he felt the coldness of the towel hit his burning forehead.
Feeling grateful, Hyeonjun turned his head shyly towards the younger, “Thanks.”
A delicate smile formed on Wooje’s face. It was rare to see him acting so…gentle towards Hyeonjun. Their dynamic was usually chaotic and loud, filled with roughhousing and playful banters. Hyeonjun must be looking like he’s on a death's bed if Wooje looked that worried about him. Wooje brought his hand near Hyeonjun’s face and flicked the hair stuck on his forehead from sweating, and started combing his hair lightly. It felt nice, Hyeonjun concluded, the nauseating feeling forgotten as he focused on the feeling of fingers running through his hair. He could feel drowsiness coming to him and his eyelids getting heavy.
Wooje chuckled lightly, “You should sleep hyung, I’ll be right here if you need anything.”
When he woke up, his body was still slightly warm and sticky from sweat. He set aside the towel that was on his forehead and sat up on his bed. Only then did Hyeonjun notice that there was a sleeping Wooje on the floor, hunched to the edge of his bed. He rested his head on one arm while putting the other arm near where Hyeonjun’s head used to lie. He felt slightly guilty for making Wooje sleep in such an uncomfortable position. Hyeonjun wondered if Wooje combed through his hair all night long until he fell asleep himself. As Hyeonjun stared blankly at his surroundings, not really awake yet, he found himself staring at Wooje’s sleeping face.
Hyeonjun realized he never really paid attention to Wooje sleeping. A ray of sunlight hit Wooje’s face and Hyeonjun thought he looked…sacred? Like a piece of art that no one should touch, he could see why his eldest hyung likes to take a picture of Wooje sleeping. Still asleep, Wooje took a big inhale which made his bangs fall, covering his eyes. Hyeonjun reached out to tuck the hair away from his face and unconsciously, his hands started caressing the side of Wooje’s face. He realized that Wooje’s cheeks were very plump. His cheeks were falling off his face and Hyeonjun had the biggest itch to poke it with his finger at it to feel how squishy it would be. Hyeonjun had seen selfies of Wooje doing it to himself, but his own hands were small to begin with so they weren’t really good measurement tools. Without much thought, Hyeonjun decided to do it. Wooje was asleep anyway, and it wasn’t like he was doing anything harmful.
Oh.
About a quarter of his index finger went into the plump cheeks and Hyeonjun was slightly amazed and found it adorable. Hyeonjun once saw a picture on social media where a fan was cupping Wooje’s chin and cheeks with one hand like what people did to their pets and he could imagine how squishy that must’ve felt, that fan was a lucky one. Hyeonjun might have overstayed his finger as Wooje stirred and woke from the action and he quickly retreated his hand. Wooje yawned and straightened his body, stretching it out flexibly, which kind of reminded Hyeonjun of a cat. He slowly blinked twice before facing Hyeonjun and giving him that same soft smile from last night. It was a weird smile he wasn’t used to seeing, it kind of made his throat dry. Perhaps he was still kind of dehydrated.
“How are you feeling, hyung?”
“I’m…better, is your back okay?”
Wooje tilted his head in confusion, “Huh? My back?”
Hyeonjun shrugged, trying not to look too caring. He couldn’t lose his trademark tsundere attitude after all. “I mean you slept like that all night, It must’ve been uncomfortable. Why didn’t you just sleep on Minseok’s bed?” Wooje looked at him with a hint of something Hyeonjun couldn't be bothered to guess what it was. Hyeonjun didn't know what to make out of it and it left a weird feeling in his chest, so he looked away.
“I’m okay, you should change your shirt hyung. You shouldn’t catch a cold on top of everything, I’ll get you something easy to eat,” Wooje got up from his seat and exited the room. Once again, Hyeonjun was left in his room all by himself, with nothing to do besides changing his shirt and scrolling his phone. After what felt like forever, Wooje finally came back to save Hyeonjun from boredom. This time, he came in with a bowl of warm soup and more water and set it on the bedside table.
Hyeonjun looked at the steaming soup and the comforting smell wafting in the room slightly triggered his appetite despite still feeling a little weak. “Feed me,” Hyeonjun whined lightly in a joking manner, throwing his best attempt in imitating Minseok’s puppy eyes. He was almost sure it wasn’t going to work and he was failing miserably.
But then, Wooje stared at him with that same indecipherable look. The look was gone in a matter of seconds and the spoon in Wooje’s hand was raised hesitantly, making its way towards Hyeonjun’s mouth. This was uncharacteristic of the younger. No matter how tired or upset Hyeonjun usually was, Wooje was never this obedient to him. Have they perhaps unlocked a higher level of friendship? Nevertheless, Hyeonjun quietly took the spoon into his mouth, not wanting to leave the boy hanging.
“Does being sick always make you act like a baby hyung?” Wooje teased, even though he was still spoon-feeding Hyeonjun without any complaints. Now this was familiar territory between Hyeonjun and Wooje, but unfortunately, he couldn’t think of any comeback, so he gave Wooje a sour look instead. Wooje only laughed as he fed Hyeonjun another spoonful of the warm soup.
Hyeonjun would never say this out loud but he thought Wooje was a great caretaker, or at the very least, Hyeonjun definitely wouldn't mind if Wooje was to take care of him again. Even after feeding him, Wooje stayed and watched a bunch of youtube videos and chatted to keep him company.
For some unknown reason, Hyeonjun’s eyes seemed to wander to Wooje by themselves more often after that, like he developed a Wooje tunnel vision or something. Hyeonjun couldn’t figure out why or how he kept finding Wooje and you can’t really solve a problem without knowing the cause first. Wherever Wooje was, he would always catch him with his eyes. He never noticed himself doing so until Wooje caught him staring and they’d go on an unannounced staring contest, which Wooje won 9 out of 10 times. Whenever Wooje won, he would wiggle his eyebrows and smile smugly at Hyeonjun.
One thing that Hyeonjun noticed during his 'study' of Wooje was that he did everything so cutely. It was a different kind of cute from Minseok’s, which was more in-your-face that everyone would see and agree with it, while Wooje was more subtle. He wasn’t sure how to describe it either. Something like you really have to look at Wooje to notice how animated he was. Wooje was youthful and refreshing to the eyes. The way he leaned in during interviews with his eyes gleaming accompanied by a slight smile that pushed his cheeks in, the way he scrunched his eyes and nose when he got cold before asking for a heat pack from the manager, the way his eyes lightened up at any mentions of food, or the way he buzzed during a high adrenaline game due to both excitement and nervousness.
Hyeonjun must admit, observing Wooje was fun. It wasn’t like he didn’t know Wooje, but sometimes the boy was just an enigma. Despite having known Wooje longer than anyone on the team, he rarely saw him get mad, upset, or anything negative really. Hyeonjun remembered that Wooje once said he didn’t like conflict, so he kept a lot of things to himself if he thought that they were not necessary to say. Wooje must be good at reading social cues because he never overstepped boundaries when joking and knew when to stop, and Hyeonjun wondered if Wooje liked to observe the others too to know their limits. So Hyeonjun kept doing it, thinking if he was stealthy enough it would be fine. That was until Minhyung confronted him about it.
“Say, is there a reason why you’re burning holes into Wooje lately?” Minhyung asked, looking straight into Hyeonjun while snacking on his bed. He had come in earlier to bother Hyeonjun because he was bored, and Minseok was still streaming. They were both on their phones, enjoying each other’s presence in a comfortable silence.
A scoff came out of Hyeonjun’s mouth, maybe he could get away with being nonchalant about it as if he wasn’t caught red-handed. “Where did this come from?” he avoided answering the question, still looking at his phone.
“C’mon don’t act stupid to me, I keep seeing you look at Wooje whenever I’m glancing towards Minseokkie ‘cus you two sit together a lot.”
That second half of the statement made Hyeonjun look up to his same-aged friend and squinted his eyes at him. “Are you finally coming out to me about how madly in love you are with Minseok right now?”
Despite not taking offense, Minhyung frowned at him. “You make it sound like I have been pining over him all my life.”
“Dude, I have eyes,” Hyeonjun deadpanned, “who wouldn’t notice something so obvious, I’m like 98% sure even other teams across the country know. Absolutely no one would believe you if you said you don’t have feelings for him.”
Not even a second after he finished, Minhyung managed to retort with a mischievous smirk plastered on his face. “Your eyes seem to be busy doing something else though. Like sending adoring looks to our beloved maknae.” Hyeonjun groaned in fake annoyance, “Drop it man, we’re just friends. Nothing more, unlike you and Minseok.”
At the mention of Minseok again, Minyung sighed lovingly and started to fawn blatantly over their smaller friend. Hyeonjun was happy that Minhyung was comfortable enough with him that he could talk about his feelings to him now, but he really did not need to know some parts of this. A knock disrupted the head-over-heels Minhyung, and Wooje peeked inside. He looked tired, Hyeonjun thought. There was a lack of the usual happiness in his eyes from ending streaming.
“Minhyung hyung, you were called by Minseok hyung. He asked you to accompany him to the convenience store.” Almost instantly, Minhyung got up from Hyeonjun’s bed and ran past Wooje to get out of the room. Hyeonjun chuckled at his friend’s antics, but then he saw a quiet Wooje standing still by the door, looking over at the direction Minhyung ran.
Okay, something was definitely up. Hyeonjun decided that he should try and be a good hyung to him right now and cheer him up. “Wooje-ah, wanna order chicken? It’s on me.” Hyeonjun may not be good at consulting and talking about feelings, but he knew Wooje would brighten up at the mention of free food.
Weirdly enough, all he got in return was a blank stare from Wooje, whose eyebrows furrowed ever so slightly. There was something new in his eyes though, an expression that Hyeonjun had seen before once. An expression he had seen when they lost worlds, and people were hating on the younger. Hurt. Wooje’s mouth pursed into a tight-lipped smile that didn’t reach his eyes, a little bit unnatural compared to the ones Hyeonjun had seen recently. It didn’t sit right in Hyeonjun’s stomach, and the air surrounding them turned awkward. There were many words that people used to describe Wooje and Hyeonjun’s relationship, but awkward was never one of them.
“Sorry hyung, maybe next time,” Wooje replied, breaking the awkward silence. He looked towards his feet before letting out a shaky “Thanks” and closing the door. The gratitude felt out of place; like he wasn’t thanking Hyeonjun for the offer but for something else, but whatever it was, Wooje didn’t say it. Confused about what to do, Hyeonjun figured that maybe Wooje needed time for himself.
The next morning, as Hyeonjun was tying his shoelaces and about to leave for the gym, he heard the door creak. Hyeonjun turned his head around and saw Wooje coming out of Sanghyeok’s room, making a beeline for the bathroom without looking at his surroundings. Well, Hyeonjun didn’t know if Wooje didn’t see him or if he simply ignored him but Hyeonjun definitely saw that the younger had puffy and red eyes. He was also sniffling. Worry rose in Hyeonjun’s heart, and he tried rationalizing his thoughts before doing anything. If Wooje was with Sanghyeok the whole night, then things would be fine, right? Wooje wasn’t stupid; he always knew what he needed, and last night, maybe he needed advice from the eldest. Maybe he was letting things out first to stand back on his own feet. Maybe.
When the Asian Games roster was announced, Hyeonjun was upset he didn’t make it. He felt proud that half of his members were considered to be the best in Korea in their respective positions, but he wasn’t part of it. He had to admit, his performances before the selection weren’t the greatest, and unfortunately, JDG’s jungler Kanavi was better. He had to give credit when it was due and take it as motivation instead. At least Minhyung, who shared the same sentiment, was there to accompany him.
Ever since the announcement, Minhyung had come to him and ranted about how insecure he was. Stuff like, ‘What if Minseok likes playing duo with Ruler more?’ Sometimes Hyeonjun wanted to bash him in the gut for saying all that bullcrap. The whole world knew that Minseok came to T1 because of his chemistry with the ADC, and that chemistry they had was one of a kind. He couldn’t lie though, Hyeonjun was having similar thoughts to that. In his defense, ever since that incident, things had changed slightly. They still communicated in-game, and their teamwork was working just fine, but every time Hyeonjun invited him to hang out, his response was cold, and he would never accept if the offer was just the two of them hanging out. The staring contest stopped when he caught Hyeonjun staring and just looked away immediately.
All of a sudden, Wooje felt unapproachable to Hyeonjun.
Perplexed by the turn of events, Hyeonjun didn’t know what to do. They barely talk one-on-one anymore and even if Hyeonjun managed to talk to Wooje, he wouldn’t know where to start. This was different from any of their fights in the past; they would usually solve things over food, and saying sorry in the midst of eating was the perfect strategy for both of them. During those fights even though they didn’t explicitly say what they were feeling, it was quite clear what had happened when they jogged their memories and could guess if one was mad or upset.
Right now, Hyeonjun wasn’t even sure if being angry was what Wooje was feeling. He went through every conversation and every interaction they had in the past before that happened and none of them were even leaning towards bad interaction.
A sigh of frustration left his mouth as he plopped over the sofa in the living room and turned the television on. The loud sigh from Hyeonjun was not left unnoticed by Minhyung, who had been playing Hearthstone on his phone on the sofa. It was just him and Minhyung in the dorms as the other three had the practice schedule. As Hyeonjun was surfing through channels, Minhyung glanced up from his phone for a second before quirking one eyebrow up at Hyeonjun.
“What's up on your ass right now?”
“Nothing,” Hyeonjun answered absent-mindedly, eyes focused on the TV screen, not wanting to explain his cranky mood.
“Okay stop lying, it’s only me right now. Sheesh, you really need to be more honest. Does this have anything to do with Wooje spending less time with you?”
To that, he finally faced Minhyung. “So you noticed it too,” no one had mentioned anything about the sudden difference between the top-jungle duo, so Hyeonjun thought he was overreacting.
The other chuckled in response, “It was really hard not to, especially with how you always look like a dejected puppy when he declines your offer to hang out together.” Minhyung gave Hyeonjun a look filled with pity, which resulted in a pillow thrown at his face. Feeling sorry for him, Minhyung spared the teasing and asked, with a more genuine tone this time. “So why did that happen?”
Hyeonjun huffed in defeat. “You tell me, I’ve thought of everything and came up empty-handed.”
Before they could even get to the mystery-solving, Minhyung’s phone rang. He raised his phone to see the caller ID, and it was Minseok video-calling him. Without thinking twice, he answered and there was a tiny Minseok on his phone screen. Bored and curious, Hyeonjun leaned closer to peek at Minhyung’s phone.
“Minhyungie help meee, they’re bullying me!” Minseok whined and they could hear the ruckus in the practice room. Cooing noises were heard from Jihoon and Jaehyuk, Sanghyeok was visibly laughing at something they weren't sure of behind Minseok's phone. Hyeonjun didn’t see Wooje anywhere, so he went back to his original position and tuned out the bot duo’s disgustingly cute call. He wasn’t really interested in hearing them swoon over each other as they already do that every day in front of his eyes; he didn’t need to see the virtual ones too.
“Is that Wooje on Jinhyeok hyung’s back? How is he able to piggyback Wooje like that??” Minhyung brought his phone closer and squinted his eyes to look at the scene behind Minseok.
Now that caught Hyeonjun’s full attention. He quietly scooted over to see Minhyung’s screen and lo and behold, there was a clinging Choi Wooje on Seo Jinhyeok. Minseok was explaining how they got to that point, but none of it was processed in Hyeonjun’s brain. He shot a look towards Minhyung, he wasn’t sure what kind of face he made but Minhyung was looking back at him with a knowing look. Minhyung grinned at him, urgently saying goodbye to Minseok who pouted on the screen but hung up the call either way.
“You’re upset.” The sentence that came out of Minhyung’s mouth was an accusation but it sounded more like a statement due to the amused lilt in his tone.
Hyeonjun paused for a second before replying hesitantly. “I mean– if it was Minseok, wouldn’t you be upset too?”
Minhyung looked like he was caught off guard and took a moment before replying, “I don’t know, do you like Wooje the same way I like Minseok?” his intonation suddenly careful and curious, any hint of teasing from earlier was gone. Minhyung was searching for something from Hyeonjun without putting any words in his mouth. In some sense, Hyeonjun felt grateful that he was letting Hyeonjun figure things out on his own, but currently, his brain was filled with the image of Wooje on the back of JDG’s jungler. Right now, he didn’t know if he was feeling jealous of Kanavi in the pro gamer way of ‘who's the better jungler for Wooje’ or in the romantic way like Minhyung had suggested. The only thing he knew was that he didn’t like this newfound emotion.
“Shit. I think I have some things to figure out.”
Minhyung chuckled at him, “Yeah you do.”
The phone that was thrown away to Minhyung’s lap before the conversation lit up as a text message was received. “Think you can handle meeting both Wooje and Jinhyeok hyung tonight? Minseok is inviting us to dinner.” Hyeonjun dropped his head down and sighed, “I guess? I should be fine. I think.” Even Hyeonjun himself was unconvinced by his statement, but he had already committed to it.
On their way to meet the Asian Games team, Wooje was the only thing occupying his head. He was still sorting out his feelings, but now he was pretty sure that he had some sort of special fondness towards the younger. He started to wonder, when did this feeling develop from friendship to romance? Or has he liked Wooje this entire time and only noticed things now? Hyeonjun really didn’t know.
Wooje, with his bright eyes, never backing down from any challenges that were given to him. His plump lips that always dished out jokes to lighten up the mood and keep everyone in high spirits. His small warm hands that always held Hyeonjun’s cold nervous hands before any important match.
Wooje, who never gave up, was always looking for things to improve himself. The way he knows his own strengths and weaknesses, never being scared to ask for help on his weaknesses. Wooje was such a pure soul, Hyeonjun swore he had never met someone like him.
Wooje, Wooje, Wooje.
As his head was brimming with the thought of the youngest, Hyeonjun suddenly felt overwhelmed by the intensity of his crush. After a split second, the feeling was replaced with insecurity, the image of Seo ‘Kanavi’ Jinhyeok with Wooje left a bitter taste in his mouth. Does Wooje like Kanavi? Fuck, Hyeonjun hadn’t even thought of that possibility. Should he ask? Would it be weird to ask? Especially with Wooje still avoiding him like the plague? Speaking of, that’s still a problem. He groaned into his hand, only now realizing that they had arrived in front of the building. Minhyung opened the door and was immediately greeted by Minseok. Then there was Wooje, who was wearing his baby blue shirt that Hyeonjun thought looked terribly good on him. But there was one thing;
Wooje was squishing his cheeks onto Kanavi’s shoulder whilst side-hugging him.
When Hyeonjun and Wooje made eye contact, the younger one separated himself from the other jungler right away, like he was caught doing something he shouldn’t have. Gosh, jealousy was a disease and Hyeonjun was a chronic patient of it. Irritated, he clicked his tongue and turned around, hating the way Wooje looked extremely snug with another guy in a short amount of time. If he was being honest, Hyeonjun felt like he was ditched. He really wanted to talk to his best friend and ask him some questions.
As they all walked in pairs on the sidewalk, Minhyung gave him a look and approached Minseok, who was walking beside Wooje in front of them. The pavement was a bit tight for three people so Hyeonjun took this chance and grabbed Wooje by the arm. The top laner looked back at him with a confused face.
“Walk with me,” Hyeonjun commanded more than offered. Wooje looked slightly panicked but ultimately nodded as he couldn't find a reason to decline on the spot and slowed his pace to match Hyeonjun’s. They were walking slowly, making a gap between the group.
“You're awfully chummy with Kanavi,” Hyeonjun started, after a few seconds of awkward silence between the two. Out of pettiness, Hyeonjun refused to say Jinhyeok’s real name out loud to Wooje.
Wooje fidgeted with the nails of his hands, a nervous habit Hyeonjun had picked up a long time ago. “Yeah well…he’s nice. It’s fun playing with him, he’s unexpectedly very laid back too.” The statement stings Hyeonjun’s heart. Was he not like that too with Wooje?
As he tried his best to hide his jealousy, he asked again, trying to get information about Wooje’s feelings. “You must be very comfortable with him, you’ve never been clingy like that to any of us before.”
Wooje scoffed and kicked a random pebble on the road. “Hyung, you hate it when I get clingy.” Wooje turned his head to face Hyeonjun. “Why are you asking this hyung?”
“I never said that,” Hyeonjun wondered what made Wooje ever come to that conclusion. He can see Wooje’s eyebrows furrowing in confusion at his statement “I actually think you’re kind of cute when you’re clingy. Not cute when you do it to Kanavi though.” Hyeonjun didn’t know where this sudden boldness originated from, but Wooje’s slight blush on his cheeks made him think it wasn’t so bad being bold.
Wooje looked down towards his feet and stopped walking, “You’re so…frustrating,” he mumbled to himself.
“Huh?”
“Just–” Wooje sighed before looking at Hyeonjun with conflicted eyes. “So…are you saying you want me to be clingy to you?”
Hyeonjun nodded slowly, it was a bit embarrassing hearing his jealousy said out loud.
Ah right, there was another elephant in the room that needed to be addressed. Still feeling courageous, Hyeonjun figured he should bring the topic up too. “Um, Wooje, I’m sorry if I made you upset that you had to avoid me lately. I know it’s shitty not knowing what I'm sorry for but I’ve thought about it and I still couldn’t figure it out,” he softened his eyes at Wooje, “But I miss talking to you and having you by my side. Tell me what’s wrong?”
A sharp inhale came from Wooje and Hyeonjun saw there was a hint of hope in his eyes. Maybe Minhyung was right, maybe he should have been more honest. Wooje opened his mouth and yet nothing came out, he closed his mouth again before finally responding “You didn’t do anything hyung. I–I had a lot in my mind, that’s all. Sorry I ignored you hyung.”
Normally, Hyeonjun would joke lightheartedly and start making fun of him to lessen the tension. But due to his recently discovered romantic feelings towards Wooje, he gave Wooje his gentlest smile. There was relief on the younger's face and a small smile formed on his face.
Ah, Wooje really was adorable. Hyeonjun had to stop himself from the sudden urge to squish his face.
Then, they rejoined the group quickly and saw Sanghyeok looking in their direction. He glanced at Wooje and Hyeonjun and then back at Wooje before smiling softly at them. Hyeonjun was about to question it but then again, it's Sanghyeok, so he lets it go. As they arrived in front of the restaurant, Hyeonjun and Minhyung sat at the other table, prioritizing the Asian Games team to sit together as they filmed some content. Hyeonjun didn’t mind, at least he resolved his problems with Wooje. There was still a lot that he needed to think about, like whether he wanted more from Wooje or was what they had was enough for him. But for now, seeing Wooje smile at him warmly after everything was enough.
Ever since that dinner, Wooje was back to his regular self. He texted Hyeonjun about any minor inconveniences that had happened during the day or just anything. It made him happy, but gosh, how Hyeonjun missed him being physically there to tell him all this with his mouth. Hyeonjun missed the ruckus Wooje would have made, plus Minseok and Sanghyeok not being in the dorm also made a lot of differences, it was almost like the dorm was too quiet. After they won the Asian Games, they were all on their way back and Wooje asked if he was in the dorms. Hyeonjun quickly tidied up his room and himself after he had answered the message.
When Wooje arrived at his room, Hyeonjun got up from his bed and opened his arms wide, inviting the younger for a hug. There was a gold medal proudly shown hanging from his neck, it made Hyeonjun feel immensely proud. Why wouldn’t he be? That’s his top laner right there. Wooje smiled brightly and ran to the hug, plump cheeks immediately resting on Hyeonjun’s shoulder.
Suck that kanavi.
Hyeonjun’s heart was filled with affection, he pulled Wooje closer and inhaled the familiar linen scent from Wooje’s clothes. “Welcome back,” Hyeonjun said softly as he pulled away, staring at Wooje with nothing but longing and fondness. Suddenly timid, Wooje averted his gaze away for one second before giving him that same look that he had never managed to figure out. The expression felt familiar, like he had seen it before but he just couldn’t seem to pinpoint what it was. That was until he realized–
The unreadable look that had always been on Wooje’s face was the same one as whenever Minhyung looked at Minseok. Adoration.
Wooje was in love with him.
Hyeonjun could hear his heart rate quicken, still in disbelief, like it was too good to be true. For once, the gears in his brain worked extremely fast. Realizing that every single moment that Wooje did for Hyeonjun, he did it out of love.
Wooje took care of him because he did not want to see the person he liked in pain.
Wooje held his hands every time he got nervous because he wanted to support the person he liked.
Wooje played with him, whether during streams or not, simply because he wanted to spend time with the person he liked.
And that person had always been Hyeonjun.
After a long time staring at each other in silence, Wooje opened his mouth and Hyeonjun was brought back to the world.
“Hyung…I–” Wooje stopped himself like he was scared to say it. Hyeonjun felt like he knew what Wooje wanted to say, but he kept silent. He wanted to hear it from the other’s mouth, just in case he was wrong.
“I’m in love with you,” Wooje said out loud while looking at Hyeonjun with earnest eyes and pinkish cheeks.
He could feel Wooje’s hands gripping on the back of his shirt slowly becoming tighter, Wooje was scared. The confession was hanging in the air, Wooje was waiting for a reply, but Hyeonjun just couldn't seem to think. Especially with the sudden realization of how madly in love he was with his top laner, and the feeling was reciprocated. He really didn’t know how he managed to never realize this before, Wooje wasn't even hiding it well.
“Wooje– I’m sorry,” The sharp inhale and the slight panic on Wooje’s face made him hear himself and realize how badly that sounded, so he quickly started again. “I’m sorry for taking so long to notice my feelings. I feel the same way.” Hyeonjun confessed with pure sincerity and held his gaze steady at Wooje.
Wooje let out the breath he was holding and lowered his head. He brought one arm back and started hitting Hyeonjun’s chest lightly “Hyung you are such a jerk. Ugh! Who responds to a confession with ‘I’m sorry’ when you feel the same way?? I swear if I had to deal with your push and pull one more time, I'd go crazy and leave the team right before worlds.”
“Please don't,” Hyeonjun nervously chuckled. “I’m sorry, I didn't mean to send you mixed signals.” He ran his thumb over to Wooje’s cheek and pulled Wooje into another hug. Hugging Wooje felt healing, he fitted just right in Hyeonjun’s arms. Hyeonjun slowly moved them to the bed and sat down with Wooje on his lap, who was hugging him like a koala. The room was filled with comfortable silence.
Wooje snuggled his chin on the top of Hyeonjun’s shoulder to speak. “I used to be so sure that you liked me back, but then I overheard your talk with Minhyung hyung, and you said you don't see me that way. I-” Hyeonjun felt the tremble of Wooje’s lips on his shoulder as he was reminded of his emotions during it. Staying silent, Hyeonjun rubbed his hands along Wooje’s back as a way of providing comfort. Hyeonjun made a mental note to apologize for making things unnecessarily hard for the younger.
After regaining his composure, Wooje continued. “I talked to Sanghyeok hyung about it and he said to wait just a little bit longer but I couldn't, so I tried to move on. And then you– you practically told me you were jealous of Jinhyeok hyung and I started being hopeful again. I talked to Minseok hyung and Sanghyeok hyung in Hangzhou and they told me to just tell you. They said you wouldn’t reject me.”
Hyeonjun nearly fucked this up cosmically and a wave of relief washed over him that he didn’t.
Hyeonjun separated himself from the hug to face Wooje, who had his arms clinging loosely on Hyeonjun’s neck. “Thank you for giving me a second chance.” He gently cupped Wooje’s cheeks and kissed his forehead. He gazed solemnly at Wooje’s careful eyes, “I promise, I’ll make it up to you.” Then, he kissed Wooje’s face, the mole beneath his glasses, the tip of his nose, along his jawline, anywhere, everywhere. Until Wooje let out a frustrated whine.
“Hyung I love you, but can you please just kiss me properly.”
“How bossy,” and yet, Hyeonjun indulged in his request with a smile. The kiss was just a normal kiss. Hyeonjun’s hands were firmly sitting at the base of Wooje’s hips, holding him steady. Wooje’s desperate hands were grabbing his shirt like he was afraid Hyeonjun would disappear if he let go. Glasses clinking, noses touching, the feeling of braces against his own, it was messy and inexperienced, unlike any kiss people would normally see in dramas. But somehow, Hyeonjun liked it. There were a lot of feelings that Hyeonjun felt at the moment.
He was happy at the fact that he was finally with Wooje, in his arms returning his feelings. He was excited at the unknown future, a life with Wooje by his side. Most importantly, he was relieved that this was one of many shared kisses between them because now Hyeonjun was sure that he wouldn't survive in a world where he didn't get to kiss Wooje.